Download Linguistics 1010 Exam 2 Solutions: Exploring Language Universals and Acquisition and more Exams Linguistics in PDF only on Docsity!
complete solutions/Graded A+
Assured/success
Ling 1010 Uconn exam 2 with 123
complete solutions/Graded A+
Assured/success
Description (structure of language) - ANSWER gathering data
Explanation (structure of language) - ANSWER formulating hypothesis and building theories
Language death and loss of cultures - ANSWER half of the world's languages will become extinct during this century
We still live here - ANSWER story of Wampanog language
Diversity - ANSWER languages can differ in all aspects of grammar (phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics)
unity - ANSWER all languages seep to share certain properties
Linguistic Universals - ANSWER shared properties of all languages
Universal - ANSWER something that appears to be true of everything
(ex. language)
The universals archive - ANSWER examples of universals
Assumption (the Argument from Universals) - ANSWER there are univerals of language
complete solutions/Graded A+
Assured/success
Question (the Argument from Universals) - ANSWER what could cause their existence
Possible answer (the Argument from Universals) - ANSWER UG cause the existence of language universals
Conclusion (the Argument from Universals) - ANSWER UG is good explanation for why there are universals
language universals - ANSWER must be language-unique
Recursion - ANSWER (Chomsky) is a language unique universal
repetition
Not language unique (2) - ANSWER Hierarchical structure
recursion
monogenesis - ANSWER all languages stem from one mother language
evolution - ANSWER all evolved things have hierarchical structure
neutral architecture - ANSWER all languages are implemented in the same brain design
other biological constraints (language universals) - ANSWER speech/hearing apparatus, more generally sensory systems , motoric systems
Principals of communication/ Sign systems - ANSWER be clear, be short, be relevant, least effort
complete solutions/Graded A+
Assured/success
-have a NON-statistical flavor
-are about mental grammar
mental grammar - ANSWER utterances
typological studies - ANSWER focus on shallow, observable, measureable properties of utterances
Covert vs. Overt - ANSWER - Covert: are reflect in the overt universals, but often not perfectly
-Overt universals: reflections of other factors that determine the shape of language
Overt universals not rooted in covert universals - ANSWER overt universals not rooted in covert are due to general factors that relate to 'language use'
The myth of language universals - ANSWER nicholas evans
stephen levinson
Nature view - ANSWER true language universals are due to innate system
nurture view - ANSWER language universals are mere tendencies that reflect general factors
-you can learn them
The minimalist program - ANSWER Chompsky: there is less that is specific to language
-only recursion is language universal
Baldwin affect - ANSWER despite alternative explanations for universal design features of language , it is possible that the abilities to quickly learn these features becomes an evolved genetic trait
complete solutions/Graded A+
Assured/success
Consequence - ANSWER humans may have evolved a genetic endowment to rapidly acquire manny of the specific design properties that all languages share
-genetic factors specialized for kinds of knowledge
Absolute Universals - ANSWER built-in principles of UG
Disjunctive Universals - ANSWER built-in parameters of UG
The Principles-and-Parameters Model - ANSWER the theory of UG that results from the above says that UG contains: principles (absolute universals & innate) and parameters (disjunctive universals-innate but depends on language input)
Role of the Lexicon - ANSWER morphemes, exception to rules, complex words & phrases/sentences with irregular properties,
Realism - ANSWER universals 'exist' and they are reflected in the phenomena that we can observe (human language); Plato: in the world of forms; Chomsky: in the genes/brain; they exist as innate properties of UG (= rationalist, nature view)
Nominalism - ANSWER Universals do not exist as such; simply descriptions of observed similarities-why there are similarities then remains to be explained.
varying external areas, such as language use, evolution, brain structures, etc.
(= empiricist, nurture view)
Language Acquisition Device (LAD) - ANSWER Universal Grammar (UG)
Universality - ANSWER When exposed to language input, all children will acquire the mental grammar suited for the relevant language(s); all human societies (however remote or isolated) have language.
complete solutions/Graded A+
Assured/success
Moderate Rationalism - ANSWER some of language is innately fixed (absolute universals)while the rest is "innately variable" with limited values for each variable (disjunctive universals)
Incompleteness - ANSWER difference between input and output; children are not, or are barely, exposed to certain types of data, yet, they can be observed to produce such sentences very early on.
Limitedness - ANSWER difference between input and output; children are exposed to a finite input, yet, all children end up with the capacity to produce and understand new utterances, including utterances that they have never heard before. Additionally, not all children in a given speech community receive the same input, but they do all end up with grammars that are very similar.
Lack of direct negative evidence - ANSWER difference between input and output; children are not informed about what is not grammatical, even though occasionally parents do try to correct their child's utterances. Yet, all children end up knowing which utterances are ungrammatical.
Lack of construction - ANSWER difference between input and output; Children are not given explicit instruction about what the rules of the grammar are. Parents are typically not even capable of teaching the rules of grammar because they usually have no conscious knowledge about what the rules are themselves
Errors - ANSWER difference between input and output; children are exposed to numerous errors in the data such as ungrammatical sentences, hesitations, restarts, etc. Even though they will also end up making similar mistakes, they do have the capacity to figure out what the rules are for making grammatical sentences. Thus children manage to ignore the errors in the input and arrive at the correct system of rules that allows them, in principle, to speak without errors or at least to realize it when they make one
Example of Syntax - ANSWER locality of the WH-Movement (structure dependent); when the word when is used and if how is asked as well-different answers
complete solutions/Graded A+
Assured/success
Structure Dependent - ANSWER the movement rule is not based on the linear string of words; it must look at the hierarchical structure of the sentence: 'is' can't be moved to beginning of sentence b/c it's apart of main sentence
Poverty of the Stimulus Argument - ANSWER Chomsky said: when the stimulus (the input) is so 'poor' that it fails to reveal certain properties of languages, then: these properties must be part of UG
Poverty of the Imagination - ANSWER Not being able to see a learning path doesn't mean that there is none; so one must try really hard to imagine alternative ways that show that children can learn language without an innate 'manual' (UG)
Statistical method - ANSWER the evidence that children are capable of detecting recurrent combinations of syllables and taking these combinations to be words. A sequence of syllables that is not a frequent combination is taken to indicate a 'word' division.
Stages of Language Acquisition - ANSWER If language had been fully innate children would be expected to speak it completely from scratch (or as soon as their motor development allows it)
Function of Babbling - ANSWER practicing correlations between articulations and sounds
Stages during the first year - ANSWER •Stage I (0-8 weeks): reflexive & vegetative sounds
•Stage II (8-20 weeks): cooing/laughing
•Stage III (16-30 weeks): vocal play
•Stage IV (25-50 weeks): Reduplicative babbling
•Stage V: Non-reduplicative babbling & protowords
•Stage VI: the first words ...
Two word stage - ANSWER stage without consensus (ex. Daddy home)
complete solutions/Graded A+
Assured/success
Forbidden Experiments in recent times - ANSWER •The Stanford Prison Experiments (guards and prisoners)
•The Milgram Experiment (electrical shocks)
Horrible case of Deprivation - ANSWER Genie: coule learn words and simple combinations (not much morphology or syntax)
Wild Children - ANSWER When exposure to language comes after puberty, language cannot be successfully learned
Second Language Acquisition - ANSWER Children have no difficulty in learning a new language; they end up speaking like 'native speakers' but people do usually not become as fluent as native speakers when they start as adults.
Critical Theory Hypothesis - ANSWER If there is a critical period for language learning (extending up to puberty) it follows that learning a language after that is going to be hard because the innate LAD has 'shut down'
Johnson and Newport - ANSWER If acquisition starts before the age of 7: fully fluent; before the age of 15: near fluent (steady decline); after 15: non-native performance (individual differences)
Length of Exposure - ANSWER A child exposed for 3 years has greater fluency than an adult exposed for 30 years
Two Interpretations of the CPH - ANSWER 1. weak form: Late learning is perfectly possible for people who have learned a first language early in life (who have 'exercised' language acquisition early in life)
- strong form: Early exercise is irrelevant
Genie - ANSWER could not acquire language; early exercise (i.e. normal first language acquisition) does help the acquisition of a later language (even though it may not be enough to gain fluency)
complete solutions/Graded A+
Assured/success
Weak Form - ANSWER If the innate LAD is not activated WITHIN THE CP, it DISAPPEARS, but if it is activated that will support second language acquisition during the critical period. Thus: exercise IS important;
Photo Language Hypothesis - ANSWER Derek Bickerton; speaking in evolutionary terms, UG was preceded by a more elementary innate communication device called: Proto-Language
Derek Bickerton - ANSWER expert on pidgin and creole languages and the evolution of languages; believed Genie achieved what she did by using her proto-language capacity NOT subject to a critical period
Manifestation of Proto Language - ANSWER •Genie
•Any two-year old
•Telegraphic speech/Newspaper headings
•Foreigner speech •Parentese •Pidgin
•Other primates
Properties of Proto Language - ANSWER •Words for 'concrete' concepts
•Word combinations
•Simple phonology (CV syllables)
•No recursion
•Use of melody (hyper-intonation)
•Use of gesture
The creolization argument - ANSWER A pidgin language: a mix of different languages with simple grammar; it is nobody's mother language
complete solutions/Graded A+
Assured/success
simple grammar
no one's mother tongue
A creole language - ANSWER what children do to a pidgin
they make it a mother tongue
the argument for innateness - ANSWER how do children create a language
-the structure of language is built in
Sudden conversion - ANSWER pidgin--> creole have not often been documened
we use languages due to - ANSWER splitting -hunter gather
merging-colonialism
1 Misunderstanding about sign - ANSWER there is only one universal sign language used by all deaf language
2 Misunderstanding about sign - ANSWER sign languages have been consciously designed
3 Misunderstanding about sign - ANSWER they are based on spoken language
4 Misunderstanding about sign - ANSWER sign languages are a form of gesturing
5 Misunderstanding about sign - ANSWER sign languages are a form of pantomime
6 Misunderstanding about sign - ANSWER they are primitive languages
complete solutions/Graded A+
Assured/success
Key takeaway about sing - ANSWER They are full blown human languages with all relevant grammatical properties and the same use as communicative systems
Argument from sign languages - ANSWER sign languages and spoken languages make use of different production channels and have
a) grammatical structure
b) acquisition stages
c) brain regions that are used
Delayed acquisition of Sign languages - ANSWER - deaf children arent exposed to SL until years after birth
-critical period hypothesis
-fluency declines with later exposure
home sign systems - ANSWER when deaf children do not get any sign language input at all they create sign-based communication system 'on their own' which they use to communicate with family'
Characteristics o Home sign systems - ANSWER -different from co-speech gesturing in that it forms a communicative system on its own
-some or no grammatical structure
Characteristics of Home sign systems - ANSWER -LAD can create rudimentary language/ grammar even when the input is
the birth of new sign languages - ANSWER in recent times new sign languages have come into existence
-nicaraguan sign language
-al-sayyid bedouin sign language
